Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-24

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for making a water clock.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WATER CLOCK

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The diagram illustrates the method to prepare water clock.

Overall, it is 7 steps procedure, starting with the step called, tap on and ending with, emptying and repeating the procedure.

Firstly, on the tap to fill the bottle of the top .At the bottom of the bottle, finger should be placed at hole to stop the water fall, then fill the top bottle to level constant, incase of overflow, extra water will discard through the straw.

Now, move the finger away from the hole to allow water drop in the plastic bottle at the bottom.This bottle is marked with the levels showing per minute. You can repeat the process by emptying the bottle and filling the top bottle and following the same procedure as previously.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the process as having seven stages and give a clear start and finish, which provides a relevant overview. You also describe the tap, the finger covering the hole, the straw carrying away excess water, and the lower bottle’s minute markings. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: “fill the top bottle to level constant” confuses filling it until it overflows with the later constant water level, and the account does not explain that the upper bottle is fixed to a stand above a lower bottle with its neck cut off. The final use of the clock is only briefly covered. The response is also 25 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail available. Develop the stages more fully and distinguish construction from operation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The information follows the process in a generally logical order, moving from turning on the tap to releasing the water and repeating the timing procedure. “Firstly,” “Now,” and the final reference to repeating the process help signal progression, and the overall summary gives the reader a basic framework. However, the response is presented as one paragraph, so the overview and the detailed stages are not clearly separated. Some links between actions are also difficult to follow: the sentence beginning “At the bottom of the bottle” moves quickly from blocking the hole to filling the bottle, while “This bottle” could refer to either container. Use a separate overview and body paragraph, and make references to the upper and lower bottles explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “overflow,” “straw,” “hole,” “levels,” and “procedure,” which helps communicate the main actions. The range is nevertheless limited, and several word choices or combinations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “prepare water clock,” “water fall,” and “levels showing per minute.” These expressions make parts of the description less clear, particularly the distinction between water flowing into the lower bottle and the markings used to measure time. Choose more precise process language and use natural collocations, for example, “make a water clock,” “water flow,” and “markings indicating each minute.” This would improve clarity without requiring unnecessarily technical vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentence forms, including a sequence joined with “then” and a conditional phrase beginning “incase of overflow.” However, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make the process hard to interpret. Examples include “it is 7 steps procedure,” “finger should be placed at hole,” and “to allow water drop,” which show problems with articles, sentence structure, and verb forms. The opening instruction, “Firstly, on the tap,” is also incomplete, and punctuation is inconsistent, with missing spaces after full stops and unnecessary commas. Practise accurate passive constructions for process descriptions, such as “The hole is covered with a finger,” and check articles and verb patterns in each sentence.

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